CROATIA 3, KAZAKHSTAN 1 Venue: Varazdin Arena, Varazdin, CRO (clay - indoor) Croatia reached the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals for the second time in three years after World No. 3 Marin Cilic cruised past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Cilic hit 31 winners to ease past Kukushkin, who scored the visiting nation’s only point on Friday, after two hours and one minute. Since losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2016 final, the Croatian No.1 has won all six matches he has played in the team event. [ALSO LIKE] The Australian Open finalist improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Kukushkin to 3-1. Croatia has now won six consecutive ties on clay, with its last loss on...
SPAIN 3, GERMANY 2 Venue: Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia, ESP (clay- outdoor) World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer both scored wins on Sunday to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Germany, and book Spain’s place in the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals. To begin play on Sunday, Nadal forced a decisive fifth rubber by impressively defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a battle between two players inside the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. The Spaniard levelled the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Germany at 2-2 after two hours and 16 minutes, breaking the 20-year-old on six occasions en route to his second three-set win in three days. Speaking on court after the crucial win, Nadal...
USA 3, BELGIUM 0 Venue: Curb Event Center, Nashville, USA (hard - indoor) The United States is the first team to advance to the semi-finals, eliminating defending Davis Cup finalist Belgium as Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock defeated Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 5-7, 7-6(1), 7-6(3), 6-4 to clinch the tie, 3-0, on Saturday evening in three hours. "It feels great. My partner was awesome out there," Harrison said on court after the match. "I was up and down today and he was pretty consistent and helped me get through it. We have a great team. We have a lot of options that can really pull us through and I think we all do our part." The 32-time Davis Cup...
Leander Paes continues to span the sport’s generations, entertaining with the same youthful enthusiasm and passion that he first showcased 29 seasons ago. The evergreen Indian, a feisty competitor with a familar smile never far away, has today become the sixth player in ATP World Tour history (since 1973) to record 750 doubles match wins (750-433). It is perhaps apt, that the 44-year-old hit the milestone on Davis Cup duty by recording his 43rd doubles victory for India since his debut in March 1990, to break the long-standing team match wins record of Italy's Nicola Pietrangeli. In tandem with Rohan Bopanna, the duo has kept India in its Asia/Oceania Group I tie versus China on Saturday. Only five other players...
SPAIN 1, GERMANY 1 Venue: Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia, ESP (clay- outdoor) World No. 1 Rafael Nadal returned to action for the first time since the Australian Open on Friday, beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in Valencia. The Spaniard hit 28 forehand winners throughout the two-hour, 33-minute clash at the bullring venue to score his 23rd consecutive Davis Cup singles victory and level the tie at 1-1. “It's positive of course, winning in straight sets,” Nadal told DavisCup.com. “It was a solid match. I feel comfortable back on the clay. ”It's always special to play at home at a bullring stadium, it's very unique. It's a great feeling to be back, coming back from injuries is...